Resources
Find out more information about Women Lawyers of South Australia
Issues and Campaigns
Join the conversation. The Committee of the WLASA continuously undertakes a significant amount of policy and law reform work. The issues and campaigns currently on the WLASA policy agenda are listed below, with links to various resources.
Decriminalisation of Sex Work
- Statutes Amendment (Decriminalisation of Sex Work) Bill 2018, accessible here.
- Second Reading Speeches: South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 9 May 2018, 100 (T Franks), 16 May 2018, 194-198 (T Franks).
- South Australian Sex Industry Network, website, accessible here.
- Sex Industry Decriminalisation FAQ, Jessie McGillivray, Women Lawyers Association of South Australia, accessible here.
- ‘Sex workers visit South Australian Parliament to push for decriminalisation of prostitution’, Rebecca Puddy, ABC, 28 March 2019, accessible here.
Abortion Law Reform
- Statutes Amendment (Abortion Law Reform) Bill 2018, accessible here.
- Second Reading Speeches: South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 27 February 2019, 2776 –2791 (T Franks and I Pnevmatikos); 5 December 2018, 2420 – 2428 (T Franks).
- South Australian Abortion Action Coalition, website including Fact Sheets, accessible here.
- South Australian Law Reform Institute, Reform of SA abortion laws information including Media Release, Fact Sheets and Online Survey, accessible here.
- Media Release: Abortion Law Reform, Women Lawyers Association of South Australia, accessible here.
Best Practise Resources
Urgent Assistance
During an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
- Lifeline Australia - a 24/7 personal crisis service - 13 11 14
- 1800Respect - a 24/7 domestic, family and sexual violence service - 1800 737 732
- Women's Safety Services SA - a 24/7 Domestic Violence Crisis Line - 1800 800 098
- MensLine Australia - a 24/7 men's support service -1300 789 978
- Yarrow Place -a 24/7 services for rape and sexual assault victims - 8226 8777 (toll free 1800 817 421 and after hours 8226 8787)
- 13YARN - a 24/7 culturally safe helpline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people - 13 92 76
- QLife - a 3pm - midnight LGBTQIA+ support service and a web chat service - 1800 184 257
- Beyond Blue - a 24/7 depression, anxiety and suicide prevention service – 1300 224 636
- SA Health Mental Health Triage - 24/7 service staffed by mental health clinicians - 13 14 65
Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment
- 2024 Review of Harassment in the South Australian Legal Profession
- Guidance materials | Australian Human Rights Commission
- Guidelines for Complying with the Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)
- SafeWorkSA, Safework Australia has issued the following resources:
- Model Code of Practice: Sexual and gender-based harassment
- Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work
- Preventing workplace sexual harassment – guidance for small business
- Law Society of SA Policy templates
- Bullying, Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy template
- Grievance Policy template
- Drug and Alcohol Policy template
- Sexual harassment | Fair Work Commission
- FWC Module Overview | FWC
- Sexual harassment in the workplace - Fair Work Ombudsman
- Equal Opportunity Commission (SA);
- Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
- Bullying, Discrimination & Harassment – South Australian Bar Association
- Inappropriate personal conduct | Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner
- Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment (OCPSE) (7 October 2021) The Code of Ethics for the South Australian public sector;
- Commonwealth Ombudsman Better Practice Complaint Handling Guide
Mothers and Infants Prison Facility
- ‘Mother-and-infant facilities at Adelaide Women’s Prison: a cost effective measure in the best interests of the child’, Juliette McIntyre, September 2017 here.
Equitable Briefing
- Equitable Briefing Policy Annual Report 2016 – 2017, accessible here.
- National Model Equitable Briefing Policy, Law Council of Australia, June 2016, accessible here.
Diversity & Gender Equality
- ‘A conversation in gender equality 2017’, Australian Human Rights Commission, 8 March 2017, accessible here.
- Diversity & Equality Charter, Law Council of Australia, accessible here.
- Law Council Diversity Policy, Law Council of Australia, accessible here.
National Attrition and Re-engagement Study (NARS)
Law Council of Australia, information on attrition and re-engagement, including the NARS Report, Factsheets and Discussion Papers accessible here.
Join the conversation. The Committee of the WLASA continuously undertakes a significant amount of policy and law reform work. The issues and campaigns currently on the WLASA policy agenda are listed below, with links to various resources.
Decriminalisation of Sex Work
- Statutes Amendment (Decriminalisation of Sex Work) Bill 2018, accessible here.
- Second Reading Speeches: South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 9 May 2018, 100 (T Franks), 16 May 2018, 194-198 (T Franks).
- South Australian Sex Industry Network, website, accessible here.
- Sex Industry Decriminalisation FAQ, Jessie McGillivray, Women Lawyers Association of South Australia, accessible here.
- ‘Sex workers visit South Australian Parliament to push for decriminalisation of prostitution’, Rebecca Puddy, ABC, 28 March 2019, accessible here.
Abortion Law Reform
- Statutes Amendment (Abortion Law Reform) Bill 2018, accessible here.
- Second Reading Speeches: South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 27 February 2019, 2776 –2791 (T Franks and I Pnevmatikos); 5 December 2018, 2420 – 2428 (T Franks).
- South Australian Abortion Action Coalition, website including Fact Sheets, accessible here.
- South Australian Law Reform Institute, Reform of SA abortion laws information including Media Release, Fact Sheets and Online Survey, accessible here.
- Media Release: Abortion Law Reform, Women Lawyers Association of South Australia, accessible here.
Mothers and Infants Prison Facility
- ‘Mother-and-infant facilities at Adelaide Women’s Prison: a cost effective measure in the best interests of the child’, Juliette McIntyre, September 2017 here.
Charter
The Women Lawyers Association of South Australia has developed a Charter for the Advancement of Women in the South Australian Legal Profession (which can be accessed here).
The purpose of the Charter is to ensure that female lawyers in the South Australian legal industry are afforded as much opportunity in their careers as their male counterparts. Any signatory to the Charter is committing to ensuring that female lawyers within their organisations are provided with equal opportunity and inclusive workplace cultures. This will, in turn, favourably impact on all members of the organisation and result in a positive business reputation for the signatory, as well as the South Australian legal profession as a whole. The purpose of the Charter is to generate genuine structural and cultural change across the legal workforce and provide meaningful action to redress sexism and gender inequity across the profession.
The Charter is accompanied by a set of Guidelines which can be accessed here. The Guidelines provide some examples of practices designed to help law practices fulfil the Charter commitments in respect of women in the profession.
To read more about the purpose and objectives underpinning the Charter and Guidelines please read our President’s Report for May (which can be accessed here).
The Charter will be formally launched at an event in August 2019. Further details of the event will follow shortly.
If your firm or organisation would like to hear more about becoming a signatory, please contact our President at president@womenlawyerssa.org.au.
Sexual harassment
The Women Lawyers Association of South Australia (WLASA) is committed to the elimination of sexual harassment in the South Australian legal profession and will continue to dedicate significant time and resources into achieving this.
We particularly note and acknowledge the release of the Equal Opportunities Commission report into Sexual Harassment in the South Australian legal profession.
WLASA Support Person
While we continue to develop our action plan we thought it was important to share with you an important initiative developed by the WLASA for the benefit of our members. This initiative commences immediately.
While the WLASA recognises that it cannot provide the necessary therapeutic and expert support needed for a member who may be subject to bullying or harassment, we want to ensure that we are able to provide further assistance to our members in this area. This is why we have established the WLASA Support Person role and we are thrilled to announce the appointment of Ruth Beach as the inaugural WLASA Support Person.
Ruth’s role will be to act as a contact for any member who may want to discuss bullying or harassment issues, but the support will not extend to counselling or legal advice.
The WLASA Support Person will be supported by the WLASA with the provision of numbers for LawCare, BarCare, counsellors or psychologists and names of law firms that could assist the member if they wish to take the issue further. The WLASA Support Person will not be authorised to suggest that a claim is or is not made and again, would not provide any legal advice, but will rather act as a sounding board for any WLASA members that chose to contact her. The WLASA Support Person will not be asked by the WLASA Committee to provide the names of any persons who have contacted her, but will be required to report on volume of calls and to raise any issue that she considers the WLASA Committee may need to address, for example, a systemic issue.
Any member can contact Ruth directly for a confidential (and anonymous if wished) discussion by calling 0423738827 or by sending an email to ruth@ruthbeach.com.au
If the WLASA Support Person feels as though the member is in a position of harm, she is to immediately contact the WLASA President, who then may contact the SABar President, The Law Society of SA President or another entity as the WLASA President determines.
The WLASA is also available to provide support to our individual and corporate members seeking resources or further information on these matters and encourage you to contact us at admin@womenlawyerssa.org.au or me directly at president@womenlawyerssa.or.au at any stage.
Best Practice Resources
WLASA have collated useful best practices resources to assist members and community members. These resources are gathered from a range of community and government organisations and their content has been prepared by these third parties.
Last updated May 2025
Urgent Assistance
During an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
- Lifeline Australia - a 24/7 personal crisis service - 13 11 14
- 1800Respect - a 24/7 domestic, family and sexual violence service - 1800 737 732
- Women's Safety Services SA - a 24/7 Domestic Violence Crisis Line - 1800 800 098
- MensLine Australia - a 24/7 men's support service -1300 789 978
- Yarrow Place -a 24/7 services for rape and sexual assault victims - 8226 8777 (toll free 1800 817 421 and after hours 8226 8787)
- 13YARN - a 24/7 culturally safe helpline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people - 13 92 76
- QLife - a 3pm - midnight LGBTQIA+ support service and a web chat service - 1800 184 257
- Beyond Blue - a 24/7 depression, anxiety and suicide prevention service – 1300 224 636
- SA Health Mental Health Triage - 24/7 service staffed by mental health clinicians - 13 14 65
Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment
- 2024 Review of Harassment in the South Australian Legal Profession
- Guidance materials | Australian Human Rights Commission
- Guidelines for Complying with the Positive Duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)
- SafeWorkSA, Safework Australia has issued the following resources:
- Model Code of Practice: Sexual and gender-based harassment
- Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work
- Preventing workplace sexual harassment – guidance for small business
- Law Society of SA Policy templates
- Bullying, Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy template
- Grievance Policy template
- Drug and Alcohol Policy template
- Sexual harassment | Fair Work Commission
- FWC Module Overview | FWC
- Sexual harassment in the workplace - Fair Work Ombudsman
- Equal Opportunity Commission (SA);
- Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
- Bullying, Discrimination & Harassment – South Australian Bar Association
- Inappropriate personal conduct | Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner
- Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment (OCPSE) (7 October 2021) The Code of Ethics for the South Australian public sector;
- Commonwealth Ombudsman Better Practice Complaint Handling Guide
Unconscious bias and discrimination
Flexible work
- Developing a flexible working arrangements policy | WGEA
- Workplace flexibility strategy toolkit | WGEA
- Flexibility Diagnostic Tools | WGEA
- Flexible working arrangements - Fair Work Ombudsman - contains downloadable best practice guide
- Flexible workplaces in the legal profession - Law Council of Australia
- Flexible Work | The Law Society of NSW
- Victorian Women Lawyers, “Flexible Work Protocols: A best practice guide for productive and engaged legal workplaces”.
Parental leave policies
- Payment during parental leave - Fair Work Ombudsman
- Paid Parental Leave | Australian Unions
- Department for Social Services Paid Parental Leave
- Law Society of South Australia Employed_Practitioners_Taking_a_Leave_of_Absence_from_Legal_Practice.pdf
- Parental Leave Policies - The Aussie Corporate [15 March 2025]
Equitable Briefing
Diversity, Gender Equality & Gender Pay Gap
- Workplace Gender Equality Agency - Gender Pay Gap Fact Sheet
- Law Council of Australia, information on attrition and re-engagement, including the National Attrition and Re-engagement Study (NARS) Report, Factsheets and Discussion Papers
- ‘A conversation in gender equality 2017’, Australian Human Rights Commission, 8 March 2017, accessible here.
- Diversity & Equality Charter, Law Council of Australia, accessible here.
- Law Council Diversity Policy, Law Council of Australia, accessible here.